H. J. de Graaf — Dr. Hermanus Johannes de Graaf — was the editor of the 1955 second wholly revised edition of Nederlanders over de Zeeën: 350 Jaar geschiedenis van Nederland buitengaats and the author of the chapters on the pre-Company Indies (II.1), the VOC (II.2-6), the transition from Company to Government (III), the war with Japan (V), and the Indies after the Japanese surrender (VI). His narrative is the principal source of the present Aceh Wiki History articles derived from Nederlanders over de Zeeën.
Authorship of the Atjeh-relevant chapters
In the 1955 edition of Nederlanders over de Zeeën, De Graaf was responsible for the chapters covering:
- Azië voor de komst der Nederlanders (Asia before the coming of the Dutch) — Chapter II.1, which situates sixteenth-century Atjeh in the wider context of Muslim-state formation in the archipelago.
- De Geschiedenis der Nederlandse Oost-Indische Compagnie (The History of the Dutch East India Company) — Chapters II.2-6, which cover Atjeh’s trade with Gujerat and Suratte and the VOC’s conflict with Atjeh on Sumatra’s Westkust.
- De overgang van Compagnie tot Gouvernement (The transition from Company to Government) — Chapter III.
- De oorlog met Japan en de Japanse bezetting van Nederlands-Indië (The war with Japan and the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands Indies) — Chapter V.
- Nederlands-Indië na de Japanse overgave (The Netherlands Indies after the Japanese surrender) — Chapter VI, which records the 1948 Atjeh exemption from the second politionele actie.
The collaborative volume
The 1955 edition of Nederlanders over de Zeeën was a collaborative work. De Graaf was the editor; the chapter on the Indies under the State and as part of the Kingdom (Chapter IV) — the principal source of the present Atjeh-related articles on the nineteenth-century colonial state — was contributed by Prof. G. Gonggrijp. The chapter on South Africa in the Dutch period (Chapter VII) was contributed by Prof. Jhr Dr P. J. van Winter. W. R. Menkman contributed the chapter on the Netherlands in America and West Africa (Chapter I).
Significance
De Graaf’s significance for the encyclopedia of Acheh history lies in his editorship of the 1955 Nederlanders over de Zeeën — the source from which the present Aceh Wiki articles on the pre-Company Indies, the VOC period, the Japanese occupation, and the Indonesian revolution are derived. His narrative situates Atjeh in the wider 350-year history of Dutch maritime enterprise.
See Also
- Nederlanders over de Zeeën (De Graaf et al., 1955)
- G. Gonggrijp
- W. R. Menkman
- P. J. van Winter
- Atjehoorlog
- Acheh
- 1955
Source
Nederlanders over de Zeeën: 350 Jaar geschiedenis van Nederland buitengaats, onder redactie van Dr. H. J. de Graaf, met medewerking van Prof. G. Gonggrijp, W. R. Menkman en Prof. Jhr Dr P. J. van Winter, 2e geheel herziene druk (Utrecht: W. de Haan N.V., MCMLV), title-page and table of contents.